The Refugees
by Lightman
Summary: What happens to the citzens of the planets the Covenant invade?
1. Dramatis Personae

**Dramatis Personae**

Jeffrey Tilamor-Male Marine

Louis Bentley Callsign:"Doombringer"-Female Pelican Pilot

Henry DeSparchi-Male Child with cancer

Judas DeSparchi-Henry's mother

Julia Amy, "Sister Joan"-Female Nun

Cherry Galance "Sister Eden"-Female Reverend Mother

Will Jones-Male Drug Addict

Edith Dantray-Female AI designer

Jonna Abraham-Female Boxer

Isaac Vlad-Male Homeless person

Catherine Alon-Female Child

Daniel Bush-Male War Veteran


	2. Chapter 1: Evacuation

**Chapter 1: Evacuation**

Corporal Jeffrey Tilamor stood on the Pelican, looking down at the city below him. He was on the planet _Victory 1_, and he was dealing with evacuation. The Covenant had found the system, at long last, and they were about to attack.

_Damn Covenant bastards, this was once my home. I lived here until I was 21. Damn it, I hope Mom and Dad are able to get out of here!_

The Pelican landed, and Jeffrey stepped out. "Get everyone out of here quick!" yelled Louis Bentley (a.k.a _Doombringer)_, the Pelican pilot; "The Covenant armada is ETA 51 minutes from here!"

Jeffrey looked around. Marines were setting up turrets, warthogs were being driven in, and people were being escorted out of buildings. He turned and saw a few nuns being escorted out of a convent, and an old man smoking a cigar boarding the Pelican. He started walking to try and find some civilians to escort into the Pelican, when he stumbled.

When he looked up, he realized that a man had been sleeping on the ground. He awakened, growling. "What the hell does a guy have to do to get some sleep in dis damn city?"

Jeffrey was infuriated. "The Covenant has found this planet, we are evacuating! Get your ass into the pelican, now, double time, bum!"

"The Covenant?" the homeless man repeated, "Are you with some kind of religious organization?"

Jeffrey ignored the man and kept walking. _He'll figure it out._ He saw a scorpion tank being driven into the area, and eyed it with envy. _Damn it, I want to be in this battle, not on escort duty! _ He noticed an apparently disabled child being driven in on a wheelchair by his mother, and felt a sign of pity. _The kid probably won't survive the flight._

"Corporal Tilamor!" yelled another marine, dragging a little girl alongside him; "We found this girl on the streets; we have no idea where her mom is. What do we do?"

"Get her in, we'll find her mother at the refugee camp!" Jeffrey yelled, and noticed the girl starting to cry.

About 5 minutes later, the nearby area was cleared of civilians. "Block is empty! Get the civilians aboard!" yelled _Doombringer. _

Jeffrey moved to the Pelican, giving a salute to the other marines as he passed. He wanted to be fighting alongside them, but he didn't know the following journey would be just as dangerous as the upcoming battle…


	3. Chapter 2: Doombringer

Chapter 3: Doombringer 

Louis Bentley surveyed her passengers. Diverse in their appearance, she felt empathy with them upon seeing the sadness in their eyes.

_They're about to lose their homes_ she thought in sorrow. She closed the hatch of the Pelican, and turned to her charges.

"Hello," she said in a friendly tone. "I'm Louis Bentley. The Covenant alien scumbags found your planet. You're refugees now. They are going to obliterate it. Me and Jeffrey here are going to get you to a place where you can-"

"We don't have time for this," Jeffrey cut her off. "The Covies are ETA 38 minutes. Get us airborne _now_."

Louis winced at Jeffrey's order. They were both of the same rank, and he had no right to issue commands to her. Before she could make a point of it, her radio buzzed.

"This is Captain Dillieon. All EVAC ships get into the _Jade Heart_ ASAP. The Covenant bastards are ETA 37 minutes."

Louis sighed. There was no time to argue. "Everyone strap yourself in," she ordered. She touched the control panel of the Pelican, and it slowly lifted off.

After a few minutes of travel, Louis's radio buzzed again.

"God damn it! We were wrong! The covies are here! Damn it, I repeat, the Covenant is here! The _Jade Heart_ is entering slipspace in 10 minutes! For the love of God, if you're an EVAC, get the hell over there!" Before the Captain could continue, an explosion could be heard on the other side of the radio, and the feed went dead.

Louis pulled the transceiver to her mouth. "Captain, do you come in? Repeat, Captain, do you come in? For God's sake Captain, do you here me?"

The only response to Louis's attempt was static. Captain Dilleon was dead.

Jeffrey turned to the passengers. Louis didn't pay attention to what he said, but she figured it was along the lines of "Don't worry, we'll be fine."

Suddenly, Louis saw something on her radar. She looked closer at it. There were four incoming enemies, each barely a kilometer away.

_We're dead _Louis thought as she began to make out the enemy. Four Banshees, the Covenant's atmospheric bomber. The Banshees weren't too tough but compared to a Pelican they were extremely agile. They could get behind a Pelican and rip it to pieces: the Pelicans had no defenses on their rear sides.

The EVAC ship had only one chance. "Hold on everybody!" Louis yelled. She pulled down on the Pelican's chaingun trigger. After a few seconds, high speed bullets poured from the ship. One of the Banshees was destroyed by the wave of bullets, but the other three evaded.

Louis cursed. The Banshees were behind the Pelican now. There was no way to stop the Covenant now. She turned to her passengers. All of them could read her expression. They knew they were doomed. As Louis resigned herself to her fate, she made eye contact with one of the youngest passengers on board: a young girl, probably younger than 6 years of age.

_Not today_ Louis thought. They were going to survive.

The Covenant Banshees opened fire on the Pelican. The vehicle shook as its armor plating began to melt under the heat of the Banshee's plasma.

Louis gritted her teeth. She pulled the controls of the Pelican hard right. It was an unorthodox maneuver, but it worked. One of the Banshees exploded into millions of pieces as the Pelican crushed it.

Two Banshees remained. They both attempted to evade the Pelican's turn of destruction, and both succeeded.

Louis looked intently at the two Banshees attack patterns. They were both making hit and run attacks. She watched as the armor plating of the Pelican began to melt. Suddenly, just as the Banshees crossed the same flight path, Louis accelerated the Pelican. It slammed into both Banshees, destroying them.

_We won!_ Louis thought.

And so the Pelican landed on the _Jade Heart_, and the refugees' adventure began…


	4. Chapter 3: The Jade Heart

**Chapter 3: The _Jade Heart_**

As the refugees boarded the _Jade Heart_, they all felt relief. The Covenant may still be attacking, but the group was in a safe ship that would escape in a few moments.

"Entering slipspace in 60 seconds," a voice over the intercom said.

The refugees were escorted to the _Jade Heart_'s cafeteria, along with all the other survivors of _Victory 1_.

"Okay, everyone, you're safe now. We're in the _Jade Heart_, and this is the cafeteria. We're going to enter slipspace in a few moments," Jeffrey said.

A few moments later the _Jade Heart_ rocked for a second as a Covenant bomb hit it's hull, then immediately went silent. The black of space was replaced with colors of solid green.

"Ha! When I was serving, you'd be lucky if you didn't fall off your own damn seat when yah jumped into slipspace!" shouted an older man. "You'se UNSC navy got it easy!"

Jeffrey and Louis shook their heads. "We're going to report in with the captain," Louis said. And with that they were off.

"Hmm," whispered a small voice. "Now would be a good time for introductions, eh? I'm Edith Dantrey, AI designer."

"Daniel Bush," said the war veteran from earlier.

The Nuns spoke up next. "I am Sister Eden," said the Reverend Mother. "This is Sister Joan," she continued, gesturing towards the other Nun.

"I'm Judas DeSparchi," a 30-year-old woman said. "This is my son, Henry," she added, holding her disabled 12 year old's hand.

"I'm Catherine Alon. Do any of you know where my mommy is?" said a 6 year old girl, holding a doll.

"No I don't," said Edith. "But I'll help you find her if I can, Catherine."

"Thank you Mrs. Dantray."

"Miss, my dear. I'm not married yet."

"Oh."

"I'm Jonna Abraham," said a tough looking woman.

"I'm, uh Isaac. Yeah, Isaac Vlad," hesitantly said a ragged man.

"Will Jones is my name," whispered a twitching man. "Uh, I've gotta go to the bathroom." Will left the table.

"So," said Edith. "Let's go get some lunch."

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Will Jones carefully made his way into the bathroom. After making sure no one was in there, he pulled something out of his right pocket. It was a stick of Silon, one of the most powerful drugs in the UNSC.

I know I've gotta quit, but I just damn can't! I've gotta be more careful though, or one of these marines is gonna catch me.

He placed the Silon to his mouth, and immediately fell unconscious. His dreams were filled with ecstasy. As he slept, he didn't realize that the Silon was beginning to form a clot in his blood near his brain. He was walking on

thin ice now.

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Jeffrey and Louis met the Captain Wanta on the bridge of the _Jade Heart._

"Sir, reporting fur duty as ordered, sir!" they both yelled.

"At ease," Wanta said, his Asian accent prominent. "We took a bad hit before we could make the jump. We're losing fuel, and we won't make it unless the hole the Covie bomb made is plugged. Both of you were trained in ship repair, yes?"

"Yes sir!"

"Good. You're going to have to put that training to use now, soldiers. Double time, get your gear and seal the hole."

"Aye aye sir!"

Jeffrey and Louis marched off nervously; knowing that repair while in slipspace was risky. Very risky. In space, if the rope holding you to the ship snapped, you could still be saved by another ship. In slipspace, you'd be left a few light years behind. That aside, they would do their duty, even if it cost them their lives.

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Captain Wanta turned to his AI. Most AIs were programmed to think like a particular historical figure. His was programmed to act as Winston Churchill. Wanta remembered reading about him in history class. Apparently Churchill was the leader of England during World War II.

"Winston, is refugee point Alpha 88 safe?"

"I believe so sir. The latest report from Alpha 88 was from yesterday, but I doubt that the situation has changed there without them sending a report."

"Give me the odds, Winston."

"There is a 8 chance that the situation has changed since 12 hundred hours yesterday. There is a 3 chance it involves the Covenant, a 2 chance it involves pirates or insurgents, and a 3 chance of any other disturbance."

"Thank you Winston. Set course for refugee point Alpha 88."

"Yes sir."

The _Jade Heart's_ course was set for refugee point Alpha 88. The ship entered real space for a moment while new coordinates were made, and entered slipspace again to begin its journey.


	5. Chapter 4: To The Bitter End

Chapter 4: To The Bitter End 

Louis Bentley and Jeffrey Tilamor both donned their space suits with great care. They both knew that even a millimeter of exposed skin could kill them both in slipspace. Neither of them were very happy with the assignment before them, but orders were orders. The ship would fall right out of the sky without substantial repairs.

When Louis and Jeffrey were sure that their suits were adequately arranged, they headed for the airlock. Normally a captain would dispatch some kind of rover to repair a ship, but the fuel leak was at such an angle that a rover couldn't reach it.

"You ready?" asked Louis, sensing that Jeffrey was extremely nervous.

"Uh…yeah," Jeffrey replied. "You know, repairs have only been done mid slipspace once before, and that was a Spartan doing that. Why can't we just go into realspace and make some repairs then?"

"Because emerging into realspace takes a significant toll on the fuel supplies of this ship. We already went into realspace once. If we fail, we might have enough fuel to land on Alpha 88 if we go straight there, but if we go back into realspace before we reach Alpha 88, we're dead in space. Stop being a wimp, Corporal. We've gotta do what we've gotta do."

Jeffrey sighed. _Damn her logic._ He secured his "life line." That was the nickname that the marines gave to the length of wire that kept a person anchored to a ship while a person was making ship repairs.

The airlock opened, and both Louis and Jeffrey slowly jumped out. They both gazed at the infinite color of slipspace. It was a constant rainbow of colors, mainly green. They both quickly located the fuel leak.

"Okay, Louis, get out your torch," Jeffrey said over his suit's radio. "I'll hold down the equipment, you screw it on."

"Got it."

"Okay, on three, we start."

"Okay."

"One, two three."

Holding their breaths, Jeffrey and Louis immediately jumped towards the fuel leak and began to seal it. Jeffrey finally began to breath again. He stared at Louis. She was better at her job than he expected.

"Good job, _Doombringer_," Jeffrey said with a smirk.

"Good job, yourself, _Plasma_."

Jeffrey winced at the name. "_Plasma"_ was what he had been called when he had worked on Alto 4 as the head of a Tank crew. His crew had been known to have 25 Covenant kills, and also had employed a number of Covenant weapons on their tank. He had been a sergeant back in those days, until his men were killed in the conquest of Alto 4 because of a poor decision on his part. He had then been demoted to the rank of corporal.

Suddenly, Jeffrey was brought back to the real world with a surprising jolt. His "life line" had snapped. He tried to grab onto the ship, but to no avail.

"Oh Shit!" Jeffrey yelled. He thought for a second how he would never see Earth or _Victory 1 _again, and would never live to see the end of the war. Suddenly, Louis grabbed his arm and pulled him back.

"You okay, Tilamor?"

"Yeah, I'm okay. Thank you. Are the repairs finished?"

"Yeah. C'mon, I'll get you back to the ship."

Jeffrey looked at Louis again. He silently smiled to himself. _God, thank you._

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Edith Dantrey held Catherine Alon in her arms. She had fallen asleep after the group of refugees had eaten lunch, and Edith felt a certain moral responsibility to protect her. Edith knew Catherine's mother probably had died on _Victory 1_, and had decided that she would take it upon her self to take care of the young child.

"Mommy…?" Catherine whispered as she woke up.

"No, Catherine, it's Edith. Remember."

"Oh, hi Miss Dantrey. How long have I been asleep?"

"Only a half hour, Catherine."

"Thank you. Is there anywhere I can lie down? I feel sick."

"Yes there is. We're taking you to the cabins now."

Once the group of refugees entered the sleeping area, they realized how many people were aboard the _Jade Heart_. Half the population of _Victory 1_ was aboard. The refugees found a good sleeping area, and sat down. The nuns began praying silently, as the rest of the group lay down and fell asleep.

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Private Gregory Harrison walked into one of _Jade Heart's_ bathrooms, and was surprised at what he saw. A 20 something year old was lying on the floor. Gregory approached the man, trying to wake him up.

"You okay, man?" said the marine as Will awoke.

_Oh hell, they've found me!_ Will thought in his drug-addled state. Immediately he punched the marine, sending him reeling. Before Gregory could react, Will charged him, grabbing him by the throat. Gregory pulled out his marine combat knife, trying to stab his assailant. Unfortunately for Gregory, the Silon Will had ingested gave him a temporary strength boost, along with a great rage. Will grabbed the marine's knife and stabbed the marine in the neck. Gregory didn't die immediately, and managed to say a few last words.

"You-worst than the Cov-Covenant."

Silently, Gregory died. Will rushed out of the bathroom, throwing the knife to the ground, hoping no one would catch him. Silon had finally consumed his life.

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Five hours after Louis and Jeffrey's repairs, the _Jade Heart_ exited slipspace. Captain Wanta turned to his A.I.

"Winston, begin landing."

"Negative, sir. We're receiving a distress signal from the UNSC cruiser _Omega Point._"

"The hell? I need to hear this."

"Yes sir."

The ship's radio turned on. "To anyone who can hear me, Alpha 88 has been attacked by the Covenant. I'm using the only available radio system here. Any refugee cruisers, turn back immediately, I repeat, turn back imediat-"

The reception became static.

"What the hell!" yelled Captain Wanta.

"Sir! Three Covenant cruisers have located us! They're firing!"

"Start firing the MAC cannon, and arm the archer missiles now! Evacuate the survivors! Give them a marine escort and have them land of Alpha 88! Pray to God that the Covies don't find them! Winston, protocol is telling me to evacuate you with the survivors, but I need you to help hold the line so the refugees can get away. Are you prepared to do this?"

"As my predecessor once said: 'I'm am prepared to meet my maker. Whether my maker is ready for the great ordeal of meeting me is another matter."

"Well than, to the bitter end it is."

"Yes sir, to the bitter end, Captain."


End file.
